Welcome to my new occasional newsletter. 1. What is AI? A podcast from MIT Technology Review. I really like this new podcast from MIT. It's brief, but strictly to the point. This one explains AI in an energetic game-show-like presentation. https://www.technologyreview.com/podcast/in-machines-we-trust/ or https://podcasts.apple.com/us/p...

I can't believe how much information I've been collecting the past couple of weeks. Almost so much time on Zoom that there is no time to write. And the blurring of the so-called IT/OT line continues unabated. 1. Software PLC versus Traditional PLC. A research firm from Denmark recently called me to pump my memory about control systems....

Here are four pieces of wisdom for living I compiled over the weekend. Experiment. Life is an experiment. You try something. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, then you try something else. Always. Invent. Look for new ways to do something. Invent a tool, a pattern, a lifestyle. Go on a new path beyond the same o...

The 35th International Maintenance Conference and the Reliability 4.0 Digital Transformation Conference are meeting concurrently at Marco Island, Florida December 13-16. Now that I’ve attended one in-person trade show and conference, I’m ready for a few more. I met Terrence O’Hanlon almost 20 years ago at a conference he assembled in C...

“Complex systems require simplicity. Yet, simplicity has been difficult to implement in modern life because it is against the spirit of a certain grand of people who seek sophistication so they can justify their profession.” So states Nicholas Nassim Taleb in Antifragile. Many physicists have stated similar thoughts about developing th...

Welcome to my new newsletter from Hey.com. Hey is a new (well a year old, now) email service from the company that brought you productivity suite Basecamp. It's better than any of the other gmail alternatives I've tried. But moving an email address is very difficult. You can find me here at garymintchell@hey.com. My latest podcast is 2...

I've been pondering this thought from first century Stoic philosopher Epictetus. First, get rid of self-conceit. If your mind is filled with what you think you know, there is no room for learning what is. One problem we have as humans is the tendency to fixate on one idea, therefore, not seeing the obvious new facts which lead to an el...

I am switching newsletter services from MailChimp to HEY <https://world.HEY.com/garymintchell>. You will receive a notice from HEY asking you to opt in. You already “opted in” by registering at my blog The Manufacturing Connection. But you will be asked to opt in again. I’m not in a numbers game, so if you wish not to opt in, OK. I wil...

A machine goes down on an automated assembly line. You're out on the shop floor with a group of operators and technicians. It's costing the company a ton of money for every minute the line is down. The plant manager hovers over you reminding everyone of that loss. Worse, the news hits national media. The celebrity CEO camps out in the ...